Knowledge, attitudes and barriers towards breast cancer health education among community pharmacists

Abstract

Objectives The goal of this study was to evaluate knowledge, attitudes and perceived barriers among community pharmacists towards breast cancer health promotion. Methods A structured questionnaire was administered to 1000 registered community pharmacists in northern, central and southern regions in Jordan. Key findings Mean score for knowledge of breast cancer among community pharmacists was 8.51 AE 3.04 points out of 15 points, classifying the overall knowledge as acceptable. Five hundred (50%) pharmacists had poor knowledge, while the other half had acceptable level of knowledge for breast cancer. Mean score for pharmacists' knowledge of breast cancer screening was 3.83 AE 1.61 out of 7 points. Six hundred pharmacists (60%) had poor knowledge, while 400 pharmacists (40%) had satisfactory knowledge of screening guidelines. Pharmacists showed favourable attitude towards involvement in breast cancer education with an average score of 19.8 AE 4.35 out of 28 points. Lack of time was perceived by most pharmacists (63.9%) as a major barrier. Other highly recognised barriers were lack of privacy (57.1%) and lack of proper educational skills (56.2%). Age had no relationship with level of knowledge or attitude among pharmacists; however, a significant correlation exists between pharmacists' attitude and knowledge of breast cancer. Conclusions Knowledge of breast cancer and its screening were modest among community pharmacists in Jordan. However, views of community pharmacists towards breast cancer health promotion and awareness were positive. Efforts to improve knowledge of community pharmacists in order to be effective educators of the public about breast cancer are highly advocated.

Cancer awareness among community pharmacist: a systematic review

“…Breast cancer was the type of cancer discussed in the selected studies. The smallest sample size in the studies was 35 [ 3 ] and largest sample size was 1113 [ 2 ].…”

Making Active Surveillance a path towards health promotion: A qualitative study on prostate cancer patients’ perceptions of health promotion during Active Surveillance

“…In the same study, it was discussed that this may be because professionals do not talk enough with their patients or because information was provided at a time when patients were too burdened or overloaded to take the advice on board (Loeb et al, ). Lack of time, knowledge and skills were all identified as barriers for providing health‐promoting advice (Ayoub, Nuseir, Othman, & Abu Alkishik, ; Keogh, Olsen, Climstein, Sargeant, & Jones, ). There is, therefore, a potential need to support healthcare professionals in such an effort.…”

Attitude and Barriers of Community Pharmacists towards Cancer Health Promotion: A Systematic Review

“…Lack of educational material was also perceived as a barrier to breast cancer education by Pharmacists in the selected studies. For effective patient education, community pharmacists should be provided with necessary tools, such as printed material, which can be easily provided to the public in work settings [9]. The role of cancer health information is often underestimated.…”

“…The type of cancers in the selected studies was Breast cancer. The sample size ranged between 35 [10] and 1000 [9].…”

“…The quality of the selected studies was assessed using a quality assessment tool (9). Score from 0% -33.9% is regarded as weak, 34% -66.9% is regarded as moderate and 67% -100% is regarded as strong.…”